Your lawn gets mowed at the right height—between 2.5 and 3 inches—every week from May through October. That’s not arbitrary. It’s what keeps grass healthy, prevents weeds from taking over, and makes your property look maintained instead of neglected.
We rotate mowing patterns each visit so you don’t get those worn tracks and compacted soil. String trimming around foundations, beds, and edges happens every time, not just when someone remembers. And when we’re done, your property looks clean—no clippings left in the driveway or scattered across walkways.
You’re not spending your weekends pushing a mower or your evenings trying to catch up after a week of rain. You’re getting time back and a lawn that actually looks like someone’s taking care of it. That’s what professional lawn maintenance in Graphite, NY should do.
Emerson Excavating and Trucking started as a logging operation in 1997, moved into full-time excavation in 2020, and added lawn maintenance because our customers kept asking. Now it’s a father-son operation—Josh and his son run jobs together, and Josh is on-site for nearly everything we do.
We’re not trying to be the cheapest grass cutting service in Graphite, NY. We’re trying to be the one you keep calling because the work’s consistent, the communication’s easy, and you’re not dealing with a different crew every week who doesn’t know your property.
Most of our customers are homeowners who’d rather spend their time doing something other than lawn care. We get that. We also work with people building new homes who need site work and want one company handling everything from excavation to ongoing maintenance. That’s the advantage of working with us—a company that does more than just mow.
You call or text—we’re fine with either—and we set up a time to look at your property. Josh comes out, walks the lawn, talks through what you need, and gives you a straightforward price based on property size and how often you want service.
Most people go with weekly mowing during the growing season. We show up the same day each week, weather permitting, and handle mowing, string trimming around edges and obstacles, and blowing off hard surfaces. If it’s too wet to mow without tearing up the lawn, we’ll let you know and reschedule.
We also handle spring cleanups when everything’s coming back to life and fall cleanups before winter hits. That includes leaf removal, bed cleanups, trimming back perennials, and getting your property ready for the next season. If you need shrub trimming services in Graphite, NY or weed trimming in specific areas, we can fold that into the regular schedule or handle it separately. It depends on what makes sense for your property.
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Weekly mowing means we’re cutting your grass when it hits 3 to 4 inches, which is the right time to cut for healthy growth. We’re not scalping it down to dirt or letting it get so tall that cutting it shocks the grass. We’re keeping it at a consistent height that looks good and stays healthy.
String trimming happens around anything the mower can’t reach—foundations, fence lines, garden beds, trees, mailbox posts. Edging along driveways and walkways keeps clean lines. And we blow off all hard surfaces after we’re done so you’re not tracking clippings into the house or looking at a mess in the driveway.
Graphite, NY sits in a climate where grass grows fast in spring and early summer, slows down in the heat, then picks back up in early fall. We adjust cutting schedules based on growth, not a rigid calendar. If your lawn needs it, we’re there. If it doesn’t, we’re not charging you for unnecessary visits. Shrub trimming services in Graphite, NY get scheduled separately, usually in late spring after new growth and again in mid-summer if needed. Same with mulching, bed maintenance, or any seasonal work beyond standard mowing.
It depends on your property size. Most residential lawns in Graphite, NY run between $38 and $63 per visit for weekly mowing, trimming, and blowing. Larger properties or ones with more obstacles, steep grades, or additional trimming needs will cost more.
We price based on time and complexity, not some arbitrary number. If your lawn takes 30 minutes, you’re not paying for an hour. If it takes longer because there’s more to trim or the terrain’s difficult, the price reflects that.
We’ll give you an exact number after looking at your property. No surprises, no upselling once we start. Just a clear price for consistent service.
Yes. Spring cleanups usually happen in April or early May, depending on when everything thaws out and growth starts. We’re clearing winter debris, cutting back dead growth, raking out beds, and getting your property ready for the growing season.
Fall cleanups happen in late October or November after most of the leaves have dropped. We’re removing leaves, cutting back perennials, cleaning out beds, and doing a final mow before winter. If you’ve got a lot of trees, we might need to come back more than once as leaves keep falling.
Both services are priced separately from weekly mowing since they’re more labor-intensive. We’ll give you a quote based on property size and how much cleanup is needed. Most customers schedule both at the start of the season so we can plan around weather and workload.
We reschedule. Mowing wet grass tears up your lawn, clogs equipment, and leaves clumps of clippings that smother the grass underneath. It’s not worth it.
If rain’s in the forecast or the ground’s too wet, we’ll reach out and move your service to the next available day. Most of the time that’s within a day or two. If we’re in a stretch of constant rain and grass is getting tall, we’ll work with you to find a window that works.
We’re not rigid about schedule if conditions aren’t right. We’d rather mow your lawn correctly a day late than do a bad job on time. That’s part of working with someone who’s been doing this long enough to know when to wait.
Shrub trimming, yes. We handle that regularly for customers who want shrubs kept in shape and away from foundations or walkways. Timing depends on the type of shrubs—some get trimmed in early spring before they bud, others get trimmed after they flower. We’ll walk through what you’ve got and recommend a schedule.
Weed control and fertilization are a little different. We can handle basic weed trimming and removal in beds and along edges as part of regular maintenance. If you’re looking for chemical applications or a full lawn treatment program, that’s typically handled by a dedicated lawn care company with the right licensing and equipment.
We’re honest about what we do well. Mowing, trimming, cleanup, and basic property maintenance—that’s our lane. If you need something outside that, we’ll tell you upfront instead of doing a mediocre job at something we’re not set up for.
We’ve been in business since 1997, but lawn maintenance became a bigger part of what we offer in the last few years. It started with customers asking us to handle mowing and upkeep after we finished excavation or site work on their properties. It made sense—we were already there, already knew the property, and they trusted us to do it right.
Now it’s a regular service we offer alongside excavation, driveways, and site prep. Josh has been running equipment and managing properties for over 25 years. His son joined as a partner in 2022. Between the two of us, you’re working with people who’ve spent decades in this area and understand how properties here behave through the seasons.
We’re not a lawn-only company that showed up last year. We’re a family business that’s been serving Graphite, NY for nearly three decades, and lawn maintenance is just one more way we help customers take care of their properties.
We can do one-time cuts if that’s what you need—maybe you’re selling a property, getting ready for an event, or just got behind and need help catching up. Pricing for one-time service is usually higher per visit since we’re not building it into a regular schedule.
That said, weekly service is where we focus most of our time. It’s more efficient for us, better for your lawn, and gives you consistent results instead of scrambling every few weeks when things get out of hand.
If you’re looking for occasional help, we’ll work with you. But if you want a lawn that actually stays maintained without you thinking about it, weekly or bi-weekly service during the growing season is the way to go. We’ll talk through what makes sense when we look at your property.
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